Monday, February 25, 2013

The Digital Citizenship Survival Kit

It's a simple little prop I use when teaching Digital Citizenship to our K-8 #aurorahuskies students. I love utilizing props to try to get my point across to students. To me, it helps a student retain the lesson better.

Let me introduce you to Mr. Badura's "Digital Citizenship Survival Kit." Each of the items has a purpose. We spend a considerable amount of time addressing Digital Citizenship at Aurora Public Schools and I truly believe we are preparing students for their lives in the digital world.

Here are the items I have in my "Digital Citizenship Survival Kit" and what each item represents:

Padlock

The padlock is to remind students to set strong passwords and to set up passcode locks on all of their digital devices. "Lock 'em down" as we like to say in our Digital Citizenship lessons.

Toothbrush

I tell students to think that passwords and toothbrushes are very similar in the fact that you NEVER want to share passwords. (I do highly encourage/recommend that students to share passwords with parents)

Permanent Marker

Everything that you put online is permanent....even if you hit the delete button after posting. Odds are someone has retweeted, favorited, or taken a screenshot of the material if it was questionable.

Toothpaste

Imagine the information that you are putting online is like the toothpaste coming out of the tube. Once it is out, it is almost impossible to get it all back in the tube! (Thanks to @Mandery for that prop idea!)

The survival kit is very simple. It has been a very effective prop in getting students to think about their online behavior.

I would love to hear suggestions you might have to make my Digital Citizenship Survival Kit even better.

What an excellent idea! I used it with a presentation to students in grades 7-9 and it was very well received. I like how it gave me an anchor for the rest of the talk that I gave - I would refer back to the lock, to the toothpaste and I believe the visual help reinforce the ideas in the students' minds.

I LOVE this idea! The use of props the my 8th graders can relate to is great! The soap is an awesome addition. My idea is to add a small measure tape with a quote from the English historian Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859). "The measure of a man's real character is what he would do if he know he would never be found out." Then I would add, "Make sure your character measures up...online and off!!"

I love this idea... I think I may change the toothbrush to a house key for my elementary students to signify how they should share it with the trusted adults in their home (parents). They may understand this a bit easier... Thank you for the wonderful idea...

I love this! Taking it a step further, I want to use it as a bulletin board display in my jr. high/high school library. I will display each item and explain why it's important. It's a good reminder for everyone!

Great kit! I'm trying to think of something to add for "ask before you take someone's photo or publish someone's photo. Maybe a band aide - you wouldn't reach over and put a band aide on someone without asking.

This is great idea . Another idea. Just like we need to clean our teeth, we need to keep our computer clean. Keep virus protection up to date and don't download any dubious files attached to messages or emails.

I might add a large pink eraser explaining that once your information is out there you are not able to "erase" or get rid of it in cyberspace! Love these ideas and will be using them; adapting to a K-5 curriculum level.